G. Melesaine writes: "When I saw the trailer for the new film 'Precious' I cried. This film made me think a lot about an old life I was too familiar with. It made me think about a lot of women that I am close to. It made me think about my sister in her Tenderloin days, about that loud funny girl in class that smacked her gum too loud, about that girl in West Point who had AIDS and everyone stayed away from her, about that girl walking up and down Folsom pretending she has somewhere to go, about that teacher I use to have a crush on in middle school, about women. 'Precious' women. This was their story.

"I couldn't be objective watching this film, it gave me a sort of PTSD watching it and I even cried on my BART ride home. There has been quite the controversy of the film because some believe it perpetuates the stigma of life for African-American women. But to me it brings light and advocates a new hero to the Hollywood industry.

"The film is based off of Sapphire's novel, "Push.” The film to me has arrived at a pivotal moment. It comes at a time where a 15-year-old girl in Richmond is gang raped, at a time where a lot of people call a famous pop star beating a woman a "small mishap" to his career, at a time where young women, especially of color or queer in the inner-city, are barely visible in the conversation of anything and ignored."